Karaikudi

Karaikudi (Tamil: காரைக்குடி) is a Municipality in Sivaganga District in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Chettinad literally 'Chetti land' in Tamil, is a collection of 76 villages/towns. Chettinad includes Ramnad District and Pudukottai State of 'British' India. The Chettiars, or more properly the Nattukottai Chettiars, came from the Chettinad. Originally involved in salt trading, sometime in the 18th century they became known as financiers and trade facilitators. By the early 19th century finance had become their primary specialisation and they became famed lenders to land-owning families and in underwriting the grain trade through the provision of hundis. Several members of the Chettiar community migrated to nearby Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia, particularly Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam and Burma in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Karaikudi became popular because the area is famous for houses built with limestone called 'karai veedu'. It may also be due to a plant called "Karai" which is widely spread over this area.